The Insider

The Senate Armed Services Committee is slated to hold a nomination hearing on Feb. 25 for billionaire investor Stephen Feinberg to be deputy defense secretary.

Feinberg is the co-founder, co-CEO and chief investment officer for global investment and private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, with an estimated personal net worth of $5 billion.

Formerly chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board during President Trump’s first term, Feinberg has no previous experience working at the Pentagon, where, if confirmed, he would be charged with overseeing the day-to-day operations of a massive bureaucracy of three million people and a budget of nearly $850 billion.

In the president’s first term, Trump also reached outside the world of national security to fill DOD’s No. 2 role, nominating Boeing executive Pat Shanahan.

Trump has called Feinberg, who is a long-time donor, an “extremely successful businessman” who will “help Make the Pentagon Great Again.”

If confirmed, Feinberg would be the deputy to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host and Army veteran who also had no previous experience working at the Pentagon.

Hegseth, who faced a tough confirmation hearing, was met with uniform opposition by Democrats and lost three GOP votes, forcing an historic tie-breaking vote by Vice President Vance.

Feinberg’s nomination for the No. 2 DOD job has been far less public than Hegseth’s, which involved an active campaign for votes on Capitol Hill. Though it is not unusual for the nomination of the deputy defense secretary to draw less attention than cabinet nominees, previous interviews and reporting about Feinberg have described him as “reclusive.”

While Republicans are expected to support his nomination and can get him confirmed without any Democratic votes, it is unclear what kind of opposition Feinberg might face next week. He is expected to be questioned extensively about potential conflicts of interest stemming from his many defense-related business interests.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a vocal opponent of most of Trump’s nominees, sent a 23-page letter to the White House earlier this week -- addressed to Feinberg -- noting her “serious concerns” about his qualifications and his possible conflicts of interest as an investor in defense companies.

“These holdings would pose a conflict of interest between your duty as Deputy Secretary to advance the Department’s national security interests and your personal interest in delivering profits for the defense companies in which you or Cerberus have invested,” she wrote.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jason Albanese has been promoted to Leidos executive vice president and chief growth officer effective March 3, the company announced today.

Albanese will succeed Gerry Fasano, who will retire on April 4.

Albanese is currently the senior vice president of growth for the company’s national security sector, according to a company statement. He joined Leidos in 2017 following the merger with Lockheed Martin's Information Systems and Global Solutions organization. He initially led strategy and business development for the company's defense group, then held similar responsibilities for the health and intelligence businesses before assuming his role in the national security sector last year.

Raytheon completed a series of 10 subsystem tests for the Army's Next-Generation Short-Range Interceptor, which will eventually replace the Stinger missile.

The Army selected Raytheon and Lockheed Martin to develop competing prototypes for the NGSRI program in 2023. The new missile is to have improved target acquisition, range and lethality compared with the Stinger.

During Raytheon’s subsystem demonstrations, the seeker “demonstrated maximum range acquisition” in laboratory and outdoor environments, according to a company announcement Tuesday. Additionally, the flight rocket motor demonstrated it could extend the “intercept range of maneuver short-range air defense engagements.”

Other tests included a demonstration of “enhanced range for operation detection and identification of aerial targets” in low-visibility environments for the NGSRI’s command launch assembly as well as testing of the missile warhead, according to Raytheon.

The Army and Marine Corps will participate in the next phase of the program -- soldier touchpoints, according to Raytheon. And a system flight test demonstration will take place later this year.

This Friday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on Air Force depots' surge capacity in the event of a war in the Indo-Pacific, the Marine Corps' Long-Range Unmanned Surface Vessel program as well as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program and more.

We start off with a deep dive into Air Force depots' surge capacity in the event of a war in the Indo-Pacific:

Air Force depots can support surge capacity in the Indo-Pacific for 30 days before things get 'interesting'

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, OK -- Should a conflict between the U.S. and China break out, the Air Force Sustainment Center here could support a roughly 30-day surge before operations of the service's logistics arm get "really, really interesting," the commander said.

Lockheed Martin Chief Financial Officer Jay Malave spoke about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program during TD Cowen's 46th Annual Aerospace & Defense Conference this week:

Lockheed Martin expects Pentagon to withhold some F-35 payments into 2026

Lockheed Martin and the F-35 Joint Program Office are still aiming to declare the Technology Refresh-3 software upgrade as combat-capable in this calendar year, but cash may continue to be withheld into 2026 as the company struggles to meet stated requirements.

The Pentagon's latest operational test and evaluation report looks at the Marine Corps' Long-Range Unmanned Surface Vessel program:

LRUSV transitioning to major capability acquisition pathway in FY-27 after pivot from rapid prototyping

The Marine Corps will transition its Long-Range Unmanned Surface Vessel program to the major capability acquisition pathway in fiscal year 2027 following a decision to terminate a middle tier acquisition rapid prototyping effort, according to the latest annual report from the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation.

(Read our complete DOT&E report coverage.)

The Army this week executed two PrSM Increment 1 engagements during a flight test at White Sands Missile Range, NM, demonstrating the system's effectiveness as part of ongoing efforts to enhance the service's long-range precision strike capability:

PrSM Increment 1 notches another success in production qualification test

The Army successfully completed a key production qualification test for its next-generation, long-range strike missile, marking an important advance in the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) Increment 1 effort, the first part of a planned $8.4 billion acquisition.

Soldiers from the Army's 3rd Light Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division drove around in GM Defense's ISV and its Next Generation Tactical Vehicle prototype during a recent exercise in Germany:

Joint exercise in Germany yields potential ISV refinements for Army

The Army gleaned a few new ideas for its Infantry Squad Vehicle at a joint military exercise this past month, like mounting a winch, reconfiguring the windshield and perhaps adding doors, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George told reporters at a roundtable at the Pentagon Wednesday.

This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has news from a hearing this morning that featured the head of U.S. Northern Command, plus the Space Force's acquisition strategy, the "Iron Dome for America" executive order and more.

Gen. Gregory Guillot, head of the bi-national Northern Aerospace and Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, said during a hearing this morning that significant improvements in domestic air surveillance from orbiting assets are close to bolstering a top requirement to improve domain awareness:

'Single-sensing grid' for 'significant' domestic air surveillance possible within a year

U.S. military space sensors could be stitched together within a year to create a "single-sensing grid" to improve domestic airspace domain awareness in support of a next-generation missile defense system, according to the top U.S. military official responsible for protecting North America.

Document: Senate hearing on SOUTHCOM, NORTHCOM

The Space Force has been working on a shift in acquisition strategy that has been in the works for years, but some efforts remain unwieldy:

Space Force assessing programs for acquisition strategy changes

The Space Force is working to modify some of its development programs to lower costs and cut back risk while creating guidelines to prevent problematic contracts in the future, the service's acting acquisition chief said this week.

On Feb. 11, the Space Development Agency issued a "call for executive summaries . . . to perform 60-day studies on a U.S. 'Iron Dome' architecture and capability":

SDA seeks industry input for space capabilities to support U.S. 'Iron Dome'

The Space Development Agency is calling on industry to help shape the blueprint of a proposed national missile defense system as outlined in the recent "Iron Dome for America" executive order, announcing plans to issue 60-day studies to flesh out potential new dimensions of its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA).

Document: SDA's request for executive summaries on U.S. 'Iron Dome' architecture

Since last summer, the 3rd Light Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division has been deployed to eastern Europe in support of NATO allies and partners:

Army zeroing in on improved battery technology after exercise in Germany

Following its latest exercise in which soldiers who were forward-deployed to Eastern Europe tested some of the Army's newest technologies in freezing cold temperatures, service leaders are eyeing improved battery technology as an area of focus when it comes to modernizing the force.

Dan Karbler, a retired lieutenant general and former head of Army Space and Missile Defense Command, argued Feb. 10 during a webcast hosted by the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance that the IRONDOME Act legislation lacks the necessary operational architecture, which he described as the foundation for any successful missile defense system:

Retired brass: IRONDOME Act 'a bunch of hardware' without a solid operational design

A retired senior official took aim at the $19.5 billion missile defense investment proposal advanced by Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND), warning the bill risks creating an ineffective missile defense system without first establishing a coherent operational framework.

The House Armed Services Committee held a hearing this week on "Protecting American Interests in a Convergent Global Threat Environment":

House Armed Services Committee ready to focus on acquisition reform

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) said this week that the panel's top priority in the coming year -- along with increasing defense spending -- will be reforming the Pentagon's notoriously slow and cumbersome acquisition system, a perennial concern on Capitol Hill.

Document: House hearing on global threat environment

The Army revealed today it will be inviting industry to join its fiscal year 2026 self-propelled howitzer competition by the end of February, according to a notice posted this afternoon.

The solicitation will be uploaded “on or about” Feb. 27, the notice says, and it will be for firm-fixed-price contracts related to wheeled or tracked 155mm self-propelled howitzer systems.

This marks the next step of the Army’s Self-Propelled Howitzer Modernization program: The “get to test” phase, as Ashley John, a spokesperson for Ground Combat Systems, coined it in an email to Inside Defense Jan. 31.

The phase will involve “further testing of mature platforms, and it will not be a vendor downselect,” John said. “Competition in this phase remains critical.”

The goal is to award contracts in the fourth quarter of FY-25, with the competitive evaluation at Yuma Proving Ground, AZ, planned for FY-26, John said. That will then kick off downselects in early FY-27, the second phase of the “two-phase competitive strategy.”

The upcoming solicitation will be informed by the Army’s monthslong “road show,” which spanned this past November to December, where the service handed out contracts to five vendors for a series of demos across the globe in search of readily available systems.

Cancellation of the Army’s Extended Range Cannon Artillery program, designed to boost 155mm self-propelled howitzer range from 30 to 70 kilometers, in October 2023 catalyzed the service’s pivot toward off-the-shelf technologies.

That range boost is still an Army requirement, John said in December. But in the meantime, the service needs to find a “non-developmental” system “that will provide parity with near-peer competitors while still pursuing its long-range goals.”

The upcoming solicitation will close “on or around” April 14, the Feb. 12 notice says.

The Senate Armed Services Committee voted today to move Dan Driscoll's Army secretary nomination forward, according to a committee release.

That comes after a relatively amicable nomination hearing for the Iraq War veteran and former Yale Law School classmate of Vice President JD Vance on Jan. 30, where Driscoll pledged to bolster the organic industrial base and invest in directed energy for countering unmanned systems.

He also promised to look into the fatal crash between an inbound American Airlines flight and a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter conducting a training exercise near Reagan National Airport, which happened the night before his hearing, Jan. 29, saying he would work to “make sure that never occurs again.”

Driscoll didn’t make it through the hearing entirely unscathed, as one particular testy moment took place when Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) informed him that in their one-on-one meeting prior to his hearing, he “performed very poorly.”

Duckworth quizzed him on the number of personnel in an average brigade combat team, accused him of filibustering and demanded him to share what FM 3-0, the Army’s field manual, is for.

“See this is working, cause you’re doing your homework,” she said, when he answered correctly. “Which you did not do [before] because you couldn’t name a country in Africa where we have troops when I asked you.”

Driscoll’s “nomination was immediately reported to the floor following the Committee’s action,” the release says.